My Missing Puzzle Piece
by Lyra G. Rowin
Summary: Five times Blaine kissed Kurt somewhere other than his lips, and one time they shared their first kiss.
1. Chapter 1

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?" Kurt didn't look up from his plate, where he was currently smearing his ketchup around with a French fry. He usually never ate French fries – his complexion couldn't handle all the grease and saturated fat – but he was depressed, and Blaine had told him to order whatever he wanted.

"Do you mind if I ask you kind of a personal question?"

Kurt now looked up and met Blaine's eyes, his heart stuttering a bit, whether from the eye contact or the prospect of someone _wanting_ to know about his personal life, he couldn't say. "What is it?"

"You said… what happened was your first kiss that counted. So… there have been others that didn't?"

Kurt wasn't sure why it mattered to Blaine, but he didn't really care – something about him made Kurt want to tell him everything about himself, even the stupid, embarrassing things. And, oddly enough, Blaine seemed to genuinely care. Kurt popped the ketchup-soaked French fry into his mouth and ate it, trying to figure out how to explain things.

"It was just the one time. It was stupid, really. It was with a girl." Blaine's eyebrows shot up. "I know, I know, I mean – look at me, I've known how I am for as long as I can remember. But… I was upset that I felt like my dad was becoming closer with Finn – Finn's… well, he'll probably be my stepbrother soon enough." Blaine nodded. "But anyways, he was hanging out with Finn all the time, and I was jealous, so for about two days last year I pretended to be straight."

Blaine didn't laugh, but instead tilted his head to one side and smiled crookedly. "And in the space of _two days_ you managed to get a girl to kiss you? Please, tell me your ways – there are many guys at Dalton whom I'm sure would love to hear your secrets."

Kurt laughed. "It wasn't like that. Her name's Brittany, and she was only after me in order to keep her perfect record of having made out with everyone in school. She's probably the stupidest person alive – she thinks the square root of four is rainbows."

Blaine _did _laugh at that. "I can see why you would say that doesn't count. But what makes _this_ time so different?"

Kurt flushed in angry embarrassment. He didn't want to talk about this anymore – mocking Brittany was so much easier. "Because I'd never been kissed by a _boy_ before," he muttered, talking to his puddle of ketchup again. "I wanted the first time to be special." He laughed ruefully. "I even tried to ask Brittany what it's like, kissing a boy. She was absolutely unhelpful – although now that I think about it, her description was pretty accurate, aside from the part about her armpits."

Blaine blinked, confused, but decided it was best not to ask and shook his head in order to clear it. Getting back to the point, he continued, "And I understand that it hurts to have something taken away from you that was supposed to be special." Kurt's eyes welled up with tears again as he kept staring at his plate, his remaining fries left untouched. This was _not_ helping. "But _this_ doesn't have to 'count' either – in fact, I'd say it counts less than Brittany, seeing as this time was forced upon you. You didn't kiss back, did you?"

It was mostly a rhetorical question, but Kurt swiped at his eyes and replied, "No." He hadn't thought about that.

"Well, there you go. It doesn't count. You can still hold out for your first _real_ kiss." Blaine reached across the table and covered Kurt's hand with his. Kurt automatically turned his palm-up and squeezed Blaine's hand as a silent show of thanks.

"And who knows," Blaine continued – his tone had changed, though, as if he were nervous about what he was going to say. "It might not be as far off as you think."

Kurt looked up from their clasped hands, half-expecting to see Blaine leaning towards him over the table. Instead, Blaine simply lifted his hand to his lips, and kissed the back of it. Rather than being disappointed, Kurt smiled just as brightly as he had upon first meeting Blaine. Usually Kurt was about as close to a feminist as one could get without actually being female, but… he was pretty sure he could get used to this kind of chivalry.


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt was used to doing things for himself – it came with the territory of having no mother, and a father who was utterly inept when it came to housekeeping. But one of the things he loved about his "dates" with Blaine – that was what he thought of them as in his head, although he hadn't been given any hints since that peck on the hand in the diner that their friendship was anything more than platonic – was that Blaine insisted on driving. It gave Kurt the chance to sit back and admire Blaine's utterly perfect features – his perfectly coiffed hair, beautiful hazel eyes, chiseled jaw line… it was difficult to focus on thinking of things to talk about.

"_Least_ favorite movie," Kurt shot back, following Blaine's five-minute long ramble on why the Harry Potter movies were the best ever made.

"Pretty in Pink," Blaine replied without hesitation.

Kurt's mouth gaped, and he placed a hand over his heart, scandalized. "You dare to deny the brilliance of the fabulous Ms. Molly Ringwald? I am _shocked_. I really thought you were one of us."

"No, I agree, Molly Ringwald _is_ great. But if you'll recall, her love interest is named…"

"_Blane._ That's right." Kurt smacked himself lightly on the forehead. "But wait, he gets the girl. What's so heinous about that? Or would you rather he'd ended up with Duckie?" He teased.

"Ugh, no, I hate _Two and a Half Men._ No, I'd rather _Andie_ ended up with Duckie. Blaine's practically the antagonist. He treats Andie like dirt, and as Duckie himself said, 'His name is _Blane?—_'"

"'That's a major appliance, that's not a name!'" the two boys finished together, and then laughed.

Kurt paused, trying to think up a counter-argument. He finally said softly, "Well, I happen to think Blaine is a lovely name."

They were stopped at the red light near Kurt's house, so Blaine looked over at him with those kind eyes, just as Kurt nonchalantly pretended to be very interested in the state of his fingernails, which were perfect, as usual.

"Thank you," Blaine said, just as the light turned green and he turned back to face the road.

"And, you know, I've always thought prom looked like a ton of fun," Kurt continued, changing the subject. "Of course it encourages the same old tired, rigid gender stereotypes, and I'd be lucky if McKinley even _lets_ me take another boy to prom—" He faltered, afraid he'd let said too much by assuming that there would _be_ a boy to take someday. "But, you know, it involves getting dressed up and dancing, which I basically do all the time in glee club, so it's kind of my thing."

"I see what you're saying." Blaine pulled into Kurt's driveway. "And I wouldn't write it off just yet – I could totally see you and some lucky guy being crowned Prom Kings."

"Oh, Blaine, they would _have_ to make me Queen." Blaine laughed and stepped out of the car as Kurt did the same – he liked that Blaine had made it a habit of walking him to his door. Not that he needed protecting or anything, at least not on his own front sidewalk, but it was still nice.

"I had a great time tonight, Kurt," said Blaine, once they'd reached the front porch.

"Me too." Blaine's eyes were even harder to resist when they were turned directly on him, just inches away, sparkling in the porch light. "So are we still on for Saturday?"

"Totally. I'll see you then."

"Okay, great." Kurt turned and almost had his hand on the doorknob, about to go inside, when Blaine placed his hands on his shoulders, leaned down and, before Kurt could ask him what he was doing, he quickly pressed his lips to Kurt's cheek. It was a bit awkward and unexpected and over before he knew it, but… it was lovely, and it left him breathless.

"I'm sorry, I—"

"It's fine." And the Understatement of the Century Award goes to Kurt Hummel. "Goodnight!" And he quickly headed inside, before Blaine could notice that he was grinning more brightly than Andie after she got asked to prom.


	3. Chapter 3

The downside of hanging out with Blaine so much was that they quickly ran through all the usual things to do in Lima – bowling, movies, Breadstix – and had to get more creative. Luckily, "creative" was Kurt's middle name, which is how the two boys ended up attempting to bake a chocolate cake together in the Hummels' tiny kitchen.

"Next we need a teaspoon and a half of baking soda."

"Soda? Or powder?" Blaine was rummaging through the cupboard, confused.

"Soda. Oh, wait, we actually need both."

"What's the difference between them anyway?"

"Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. Baking powder contains baking soda, along with other things. They have different chemical reactions with the other ingredients. Honestly, with how lacking you are in culinary knowledge, I'm starting to wonder if you're actually gay," Kurt teased, sashaying over to the drawer to grab a mixing spoon.

"Trust me, I am." Blaine placed both boxes of powder on the counter emphatically.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend before?" Kurt asked, faking nonchalance. "I mean, obviously I know you can be sure even if you hadn't; I'm just curious…" Curious if there are any exes he needs to go passive-aggressively Facebook stalk.

"No, I haven't." Well, that's a relief.

There was then a silence – not an awkward one, just a silence – as Kurt carefully measured out both powders and added them to the mixing bowl. "Could you get the eggs and the milk out of the fridge?

"No prob." Kurt continued to concentrate on adding the cocoa powder, when, a moment after he heard the refrigerator door open and close, there came a loud SPLAT.

"Shit!" Blaine exclaimed. Kurt turned to see Blaine holding the milk jug, but there were now two eggs broken on the floor, the yolks having splattered onto his jeans. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I thought I could carry the eggs in one hand, but obviously not."

"Don't worry about it! We have more eggs, and trust me, I've had some experience dealing with raw egg mess. Last semester Rachel's absolute douche of a boyfriend, Jesse, along with his Vocal Adrenaline minions, threw eggs at her. It was disgusting."

"Wow. What did she do to deserve that?" Blaine asked as he and Kurt both grabbed paper towels and began to wipe up the mess.

"If you ask me, _plenty_. In his eyes, I have no idea. They had some ridiculous falling-out over a music video, which seemed just as asinine at the time, I assure you, and he ended up going back to Vocal Adrenaline and subsequently breaking Rachel's tiny, cold heart."

"So this guy was from Carmel High?"

"Yeah. We all warned her that he was just trying to spy on New Directions and undermine us so that they could beat us at Regionals – which they did – but she wouldn't listen. Love conquers all and everything." Kurt batted his eyelashes mockingly and stood, throwing away the dirty paper towels.

Blaine did the same and then retrieved two new eggs from the fridge, this time carrying them carefully over to the counter. "Um, Kurt?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you ever worry that maybe I'm just doing the same thing Jesse was?"

"No, of course not, don't be silly." Kurt cracked the eggs into the bowl. "Are you forgetting that _I_ was the one spying on _you_ in the first place? Wait, are you wondering if _I_ have some ulterior motive?"

"_Never._ Like I said, you were a terrible spy. And it's not like we sit around swapping set-lists. So your friends in Glee are cool with us hanging out?"

Kurt balked – he'd been afraid that this would come up. "Well… I haven't actually told anyone except for Mercedes. But it's not that I'm trying to hide anything from them, they just wouldn't get it," he added quickly at the look on Blaine's face. "It's a completely different situation than Rachel and Jesse. You're just so… so…" Blaine looked at him expectantly. "Nice," Kurt finished lamely.

"You really think so?"

"Of course."

"Now, if I were really that nice, do you think I'd do this?" Blaine devilishly grabbed a measuring cup, dipped it into the container of flour, and dumped the flour on Kurt's head.

"What did you do that for?" Kurt yelled, wiping flour out of his eyes, the white powder making him look even paler than usual. Blaine was doubled over with laughter, so he didn't notice when Kurt ripped open the container of frosting on the counter and grabbed a handful of frosting, until Kurt threw it in his face.

Blaine stopped laughing and replied, "Oh, it's on." And a massive food fight ensued, ending with both of them covered in flour and smeared in chocolate frosting, Blaine's perfectly gelled hair now wet and limp after Kurt poured milk on him, and Kurt's brand-new dress shirt was now stained with vanilla extract.

"What the hell just happened?" Kurt said, looking around the kitchen, which now more closely resembled a war zone.

"The most fun anyone's ever had on a Wednesday night in Lima!" Blaine replied merrily.

"We look ridiculous."

"_I_ probably look ridiculous. You, on the other hand, look good enough to eat."

Kurt gave him a side-eye worthy of Santana Lopez at how cheesy that line was. He wasn't sure if Blaine was serious, so he settled for changing the subject. "Look what you made me do, my hands are _covered_ in chocolate."

"Oh, that _is_ a dire problem," Blaine said sarcastically. "You always take everything so seriously, Kurt. You need to loosen up."

"Funny, I said the same thing to Mr. Schue—" But all thoughts of Mr. Shuester and his bizarre vendetta against Britney Spears were erased when Blaine casually placed his hand on Kurt's waist, leaned down, and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Did I mention I think you're kind of adorable when you get all uptight?" Kurt was afraid he had now loosened up so much that he was going to collapse into a puddle on the floor. "Now, how are we going to clean up this mess?"


	4. Chapter 4

"OW! Fuck!" Kurt exclaimed. So far, he loved everything about Dalton Academy, except for the fact that he had just stood up too fast and slammed the back of his neck into the bottom of his locker door. "Damn it," Kurt muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he placed the textbook for his next class in his bag. Kurt glared at his currently décor-free locker door – he'd had to remove his mini-shrine to Blaine upon transferring schools, lest the display freak the other boy out.

Speaking of Blaine, he then walked up, exclaiming brightly, "Hey, Kurt!" Kurt gave him a tight smile. "What's up?" He'd only known Blaine for two weeks, and the guy could already tell when Kurt was the last bit upset about something.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just stood up without looking and almost decapitated myself on my locker door," Kurt laughed humorlessly, rubbing at his neck again.

"Ouch, that sucks. Do you need me to kiss it and make it better?" He did not appear to be joking.

"Blaine, you cannot be serious. Like that would even help—" He was suddenly cut off by Blaine stepping behind him, hands on his shoulders, and bending his head to bring his lips softly to the back of Kurt's neck.

Kurt gasped, both from the physical contact, and from the instinctive fear that his head was about to become further acquainted with his new locker. He looked around, panicky, but no one else was even paying much attention to them, despite the fact that Blaine's hands were still on his shoulders. How… refreshing. "Better?" Blaine asked.

"Yes, actually." He wasn't sure whether he was referring to the pain in his neck, or the metaphorical pain in his neck that McKinley had been, but both now seemed to be resolved.

"Good. I'll see you in class!"


	5. Chapter 5

The week after sectionals, Kurt and Blaine sat in a booth at Breadstix, Kurt silently poking at his pasta with his fork.

"Kurt? Is something wrong?" As cute as Blaine's tendency to read his mind usually was, it was occasionally rather annoying when he needed a moment to himself to think.

"Nothing."

"Kurt…"

"I don't have to tell you every single thought that goes through my head, okay?" he snapped.

"I'm sorry," Blaine replied quietly after a pause.

"It's just that… Blaine, what are we doing here?"

"… Eating pasta?"

"You know what I mean. Are we… _dating_, or are we… just friends?"

"Kurt…"

"Don't 'Kurt' me. Don't give me some bullshit about how we don't have to label this. Because I'm not asking so that I have something intriguing to go tell Mercedes, or so I have some concrete reason to hold my head up high when I have to go back to McKinley and face Karofsky, I'm asking because I've never done this before, and I don't know how to interpret the signals I'm getting from you, and I don't want to screw up my chances with the only other openly gay guy I know." Kurt said all this in a low, angry rush, which was followed by an uncomfortably long pause.

"Wow. Um… Well, first of all, I'm sorry if you feel like I've been giving you mixed signals. I'm new to this, too, and I guess I didn't want to screw up my chances, either. Because I really like you, Kurt. And I really care about you."

Kurt's anger was already melting away, and he smiled under the gaze of Blaine's smoldering hazel eyes. "I really like you, too."

Blaine smiled back and continued, "At first I didn't want to label it 'dating' because I was still getting to know you, and I didn't want you to think that I was asking you out or whatever out of pity, or just because you're gay too – I wanted to get to know you. And then now that I have gotten to know you… I don't know, does it sound absurdly normal to say I was afraid of rejection? It was much easier to just keep flirting and avoiding the subject."

"And it is rather nice to be able to flirt with someone without getting yelled at and called a fag," Kurt admitted.

"Right."

"So… this isn't just platonic for you?"

"_No._ It hasn't been platonic since that day we had lunch after…"

"The kiss."

Blaine nodded. "It was all I could do not to swoop in right then and there and be your first _real_ kiss."

Kurt's heart flipped over in his chest. He went back to picking at his pasta, which was now getting cold, and said shyly, "I wouldn't have minded, you know."

"Well… that's reassuring. But I'm trying to be a gentleman here. If we're going to do this, I want to go about it properly. I want to make my intentions clear, and when I kiss you, I want to make sure it _counts._"

Kurt's heart felt like it was now performing an Olympic-worthy gymnastics routine. It was amazing how a simple thing like Blaine's usage of the word "when" could make him forget how to breathe.

"Okay," Kurt said weakly.

"So… I guess all that's left is to ask. Kurt Hummel… would you be my boyfriend?"

He nodded, perhaps a bit too eagerly. "Yes."

They both grinned, and Blaine looked at a loss for something to say. He settled on a gleeful little "Yay!" and then grabbed Kurt's hand again, kissing his fingers, his palm, the inside of his wrist, with uncontrolled enthusiasm.

Kurt was happy to report that the signals he was getting – from his _boyfriend_ – were no longer mixed at all.


	6. Chapter 6

That same night after dinner, they went for a walk in the park. It was dark, and freezing out, being Ohio in December, but the park's sidewalks were well-lit, and they wandered for nearly an hour, not even talking much, just holding hands and grinning like idiots and silently daring any narrow-minded Ohioans that they may come across to be offended.

"Do you think we should head back soon?" Blaine asked.

"Do I think we should? Probably. Do I want to? Not particularly." Kurt leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder, and Blaine let go of his hand in order to wrap his arm around Kurt's waist.

"Have I told you I thought you were cute the day I met you?" Blaine murmured.

"No."

"Well, I did. You were so adorably clueless. And I felt so horrible that you weren't happy like me…"

"I am now," Kurt chimed in. "I don't care what anybody back at McKinley says now. I have you, and they can't take that away." Kurt could have sworn he felt Blaine's face grow warm at that.

"Are you sad to be going back there?"

"Not really. I'll miss seeing you at school everyday, but I miss everyone in New Directions. Clearly they're floundering without me."

"Oh, clearly." They both laughed.

"Blaine?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think we'd be friends even if we weren't both gay?"

He didn't hesitate to answer, "Totally. We would still have awesome debates over John Hughes movies, and try to figure out how much actual bread is in the breadsticks at Breadstix."

Kurt laughed, but didn't respond, letting the contented silence hang.  
"Are you cold?" asked Blaine.

"A bit."

They stopped short, and Blaine turned and wrapped his arms around Kurt, pulling him close. They'd hugged before, but never like this – this was clearly non-platonic. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's waist as well, burying his face in his chest – he smelled amazing, although Kurt couldn't identify the cologne. Strange, he was usually an expert at this sort of thing.

"Kurt?"

"Yes?" Kurt pulled back to look up into those hazel eyes that he'd been obsessed with for the past month and a half.

Blaine didn't say anything, but moved one hand from Kurt's waist up to stroke the side of his face. And suddenly, Kurt knew. It wasn't anything like the last time. Nothing about this was forced upon him, he had time to pull away or say "no," but he didn't want to. He moved his arms up to around Blaine's neck, leaned in, tilting his head slightly to the right and – well, it was impossible to say who kissed who first.

Their lips met, awkward and unsure at first, but almost immediately the kiss became more passionate. This was so much better than Brittany's description – Blaine's lips, which he'd felt so many times in other locations, were soft and full and gentle. He tasted slightly of garlic, but mostly of – how ironic – cherry ChapStick.

_I'm kissing a boy and I like it_, Kurt mentally sang idly. He tangled his hand in Blaine's hair and pulled him closer, drinking him in, trying to embed this moment permanently in his memory.

After a moment Blaine pulled back, breathless. He again seemed to be searching for something to say, and settled for, "_Kurt._" He kissed him full on the mouth once more for good measure.

"I would have to say that that counts as my first _real_ kiss." Kurt grinned.

"Good." Blaine smiled back, looking positively giddy. "You know something?"

"What?"

"That was my first real kiss too."

"Really? But… there are other guys at Dalton who are—"

"I know, but I've told you, I'm a gentleman. I never found anyone who was really right for me, until I met you." Kurt was grateful that it was dark enough outside to hide how much he was blushing.

"I've finally found you, my missing puzzle piece," Blaine sang.

"I'm complete," Kurt finished. And they kissed again, both lost in their own blissful happiness.


End file.
